inexpensive/budget setup for limited trips

[RyanP]

TL;DR Does anyone have any suggestions for bikepacking bags that I should buy if I want to carry 15-20 lbs or so on my mountain bike for as low of a cost as possible?

Hello all, I'm a first time user here who just discovered this site.  I have experience and gear for both backpacking and mountain biking, but have never really tried combining the two hobbies.  I am less interested in traditional, full-fledged bikepacking, and more interested in using my old beater mountain bike (hardtail, no dropper post) to get me to and from remote trailheads for a few backpacking routes that I am eyeing.  I've done a few backpacking trips where short (10-ish miles or so) bike rides enabled one-way routes that would normally require a vehicle shuttle.  I loved those trips and would like to do more of them---but I think that kind of trip would probably much safer and more enjoyable if I could strap some of my gear to my bike instead of having it all in my backpack.  I'm anticipating that some of my riding will be on rough dirt roads (where I don't feel comfortable bringing my car), some will be on smooth roads (to enable a one-way trip), and some will be on singletrack.  At least at first, I only plan on using this setup for a couple of backpacking trips, so I would like to keep it to as inexpensive of a setup as possible---depending on how the experience goes, I may at some point really get into this and upgrade to a nicer setup.  Does anyone have any suggestions for bikepacking bags that I should buy if I want to carry 15-20 lbs or so on my bike for as low of a cost as possible?


Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[sashax]

One way might be to strap a dry bag to your handlebars. I've done that successfully. Might not work in technical singletrack but it's worked for me on hundreds of miles of rough dirt roads.

[offroute]

^^ Cheap drybag or stuff sack works. Sewing something up yourself? An old hardtail probably has generous triangle space for a frame bag.

Gear specifically for bikepacking probably won't be cheap. A hundred for a front roll but no need to F around, lasts more trips than you'll do and you can sell anytime.

A Thudbuster seat post could help if using a big backpack.

[RyanP]

Thanks for the input.  I've got a drybag that might work so I'll give it a try.